Flush lever



Nov. 14, 1950 F, M K L R 2,529,844

FLUSH LEVER Filed March 26, 1949 FRED M. KELLER Snventor- Patented Nov. 14, 1950- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLUSH LEVER Fred M. Keller, Grand Rapids, Mich. Application March 26, 1949, Serial No. 83,741

This invention relates-i general to a single action, flush handle assembly including a flush lever and particularly to a type thereof mountable as a pre-assembled unit on the side wall of a flush tank.

Considerable and vigorous experimental efforts have been directed toward the development of a flush handle assembly representing the maximum in simplicity and consequent minimum cost of fabrication, while maintaining a high level of operating efficiency, sturdiness of structure and smartness of appearance. However, no flush handle assembly completely satisfying these demands up to now is known to have been made.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a single'action flush handle assembly in which the working parts are reduced to a minimum and yet in which there is maintained a high level of operating efliciency, sturdiness of structure and pleasing appearance.

A further object of this invention has been to provide a single action flush handle assembly, as aforesaid, which is simple to manufacture and pre-assemble as well as being easy to install by unskilled persons.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with this type of equipment upon referring to the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following specification.

In meeting those objects and purposes heretofore mentioned, as well as others incidental thereto and associated therewith, I have provided a cylindrical mounting fixture having an integral, circumferential flange near one end thereof, said fixture being providedwith external threads near the other end thereof. "The mounting fixture is also provided-with a cylindrical, coaxial chamber therethrough having a portion of reduced internal diameter near the end thereof remote from said circumferential flange. A flush handle is provided with a head having an integral sleeve extending therefrom and rotatably receivable into said cylindricalchamber at the end thereof adjacent said flange. The circumferential flange is provided with a lug near the outer radial edge thereof which extends in a direction parallel to the axis of said chamber toward said handle head. A pair of spaced integral bosses are provided on said handle head for cooperating with said lug for limiting the rotational movement of the handle with respect to the mounting fixture.

A flush lever is provided with a perpendicularly disposed, integral shank portion near one end thereof, which shank portion is rotatably sup- 1 Claim. (01. 4-67) ported within the reduced portion of said cylin- For illustration of a preferred embodiment of the invention attention is directed to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a broken, top plan view of the flush handle assembly to which this invention relates,

including a broken line fragment of the side wall of a flush tank. 7 Figure '2 is a broken, side elevation View of said flush handle assembly.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an end elevation view of the outer end of said mounting fixture.

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken along the line VIVI of Figure 4.

Construction The terms inner or inwardly and outer or outwardly as used in this specification will be understood to mean upwardly. and downwardly, respectively, with respect to Figure 1 as well as inwardly and outwardly with respect to the flush tank side wall, the inside of said side wall being indicated by the letter A in Figure 1.

The flush handle assembly In (Figures 1, 2 and 3) is comprised of a mounting fixture II, a handle l2 and a fiush lever E3. The mounting fixture I I has a substantially cylindrical body M which is provided with external threads I5 near I the inner end of the fixture body. The outer end of the fixture body I4'is provided with a circum ferential, integral, preferably cylindrical and coaxial flange [6 which is substantially larger in its external diameter than said fixture body. That portion I! of the fixture body between the threads l5 and the flange I6 preferably has an out of,

round cross-section, such as square. The side wall 18 of the flush tank (Figure 1), upon which tation of the mounting fixture with respectv to the tank side wall it when said fixture is in serted completely into and through said opening I9.

A nut 22 (Figure 1) is provided for threaded cooperation with the external threads i on the mounting fixture body l4, for securing the flange it against the tank side wall l8. A lug 23, which is preferably integral with the cylindrical flange l3, extends from the outer face 365 of said flange adjacent to the radially outer edge thereof in a direction substantially parallel with the axis of the fixture I The purpose of the lug 23 will be described in detail hereinafter. v

The fixture body 4 is provided with a cylindrical chamber 24 extending therethrough and having a bearing portion 25 of reduced internal diameter adjacent to the inner end thereof, thereby providing a lever supporting opening 26.

The handle |2 (Figures 1, 3, 4 and B), of any ordinary die-cast metal capable .of taking and holding a press fit as hereinafter described, is provided with a head 21 at one end thereof, said head having a recess 28.. The handle head 2?,

which has a substantially circular outer rim 29,.

is provided with an integral sleeve boss 31 coaxial with said circular rim 29 .and extending out through the center of the head recess 28 sub-. stantially beyond the plane of said head rim .29. The outside diameter of the sleeve boss 3| .is preferably slightly'smaller than the inside diameter of the cylindrical chamber 24 in the fixture body |4, thereby permitting rotatable support of the boss 3| by the walls of said chamber 24. .A cylindrical shank recess 42 is provided coaxially within said sleeve boss 31,.

A pair of stop bosses 32 .and 33 (Figure 6-) which are preferably integral with the head 2-1, are positioned within the head recess 28 between the head skirt 34 and the sleeve boss 34. -The free edges 35 (Figures 3 .and 6) of the stop bosses 32 and 33, against which the outer face 36 of the cylindrical flange 16 bears, are preferably spaced inwardly of said head recess from the said plane of the head rim 2.9. The stop bosses 32 and 33 are spaced for reception of the lug 23 therebetween when the free edges 35 of .the stop bosses are bearing against said flange outer face 36. The

rotation of the handle I2 with respect to the mounting fixture H, when the sleeve boss 3| is operably supported within the cylindrical chamber124, is controlled both by the size of the lug 23 and the spacing between the bosses 32 and 33.

The lever l3 (Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4) made from any ordinary brass capable of taking and holding a press-fit connection as hereinafter described, is comprised of an arm portion 31 and a rocker shank 38 near one end of said lever and perpendicularly disposed thereto. The free end 4| of the shank .33 is received into the coaxial, cylindrical shank recess 42 in the sleeve boss 3|, which recess is preferably slightly larger in diameter than said shank 33 in this embodiment of the invention. The respective diametersof the shank 38 and the recess 42 will vary according to the materials being used, but will follow ordinary press-fit practices which are well known and therefore .do not require detailed description. The .extremity of said free end 4| may be rounded to facilitate its entry into the recess 42.

The outer end 4| of the rocker shank 38 is preferably distorted, as by means of the knurling 43 (Figure 3)., for the purpose of increasing the size of the shank 38 and thereby effecting a securernent between said shank 33 and the side .walls of said cylindrical recess 42 without fracturing the sleeve boss 3|.

The opposite end of the shank 38 near the arm portion 31 is rotatably supported within the lever opening 26. Thus, the shank 38 is rotatably supported within the cylindrical chamber 24 near the inner end thereof by means of the bearin portion and near the outer end 4| thereof being held within the sleeve boss 3|.

A bead 44 is pinched upon, and is integral with, the shank 38 at a predetermined distance from the outer end 4| thereof, said bead being designed to limit the outward, axial movement of the rocker shank 38 with respect to the mounting fixture by bearing against the inner face of the bearing portion 25. This bead is preferably pinched onto said shank prior to its assembly with the handle.

The lever arm 3! (Figure 2) may be provided with a plurality of openings 45 therethrough remote from the shank 38 for engagement by an appropriate flush valve, not shown, of any conventional type.

' Operation The .flush handle assembly In is assembled by inserting the sleeve boss 3| into the outer end of the cylindrical chamber 24 and inserting the rocker shank .38 through the lever opening 23 and the outer extremity of its free end 4| into the opening .of the cylindrical shank recess 42 in the sleeve .boss 3|. Sufi-lcient pressure is then exerted in a conventional manner to force the knurled portion 43 of the shank 38 into said ,recess -52 and efiect ,a tight press-fit therebetween. The shank end 4| is inserted .into the opening 42 sufficiently to effect a firm engagement between said shank and the boss 3| but preferably not to the .bottom of the recess 42 in order to provide normal .manufacturing tolerances due to possible variations .in the length of the shank and/or the depth .of the recess :42. These tolerances must be provided so that the bead 44 .can be properly spaced from the stop bosses 32 and 33.

When the lever 1.3 and handle |2 are thus securely fastened together, the bead 44 limits outward axial movement :of the lever I3 and handle I2 with respect to the mountingfixture The stop bosses 32 and 33 in the head recess 28, which bosses bear against the flange outer face 36 on the mounting fixture I, limit inward axial movement of :said lever and handle with respect to the mounting fixture The relative positioning of .all of these parts is, in the light of the foregoing, obviously such as to permit free rotation of said handle and shank with respect to said fixture but holdingsaid shank and handle against material axial movement with respect to said fixture. The oscillatory movement of the lever shank 38 and handle l2 with respect to the fixtu-re H, is confined within the limits imposed by the'lug 23 on the fixture H and the sto bosses 32 and 33 011 the handle I2. The bearing portion 25 and sleeve boss 3| which rotatably support the lever shank 38 within the cylindrical chamber 24 :are positioned remotely from each other to provide two spaced bearing points for the purpose of preventing :any wobble of the flush handle assembl during operation.

The flush handle assembl it may be mounted on a flush tank side wall |-8 of any convenient, conventional type and in a substantially conventional manner, as shown in Figure 1. The mounting fixture H is inserted through an appropriate opening IS in the tank side wall l8 until the flange I6 is firmly against the outside of said tank side wall. The nut 22 is threaded onto the threads 15 on the inner end of the fixture body 14 nd brought up tightly against the inside surface A of the tank side wall I8. An appropriate flush valve (not shown) of any conventional type may be suspended in a conventional manner, such as shown in my application Serial No. 679,031 (issued as Patent No. 2,468,203, April 26, 1949) upon the flush lever arm 3! by means of the arm openings 45 therein.

Although the above mentioned drawings and description apply to one particular, preferred embodiment of the invention, it is not my intention, implied or otherwise, to eliminate other variations or modifications which do not depart from the scope of the invention unless specificall stated to the contrary in the hereinafter appended claim.

I claim:

A single action flush handle assembly mountable upon a flush tank side wall having an opening therethrough, comprising in combination: a substantially cylindrical mounting fixture extending through said tankopening and having a circumferential, integral, radially outwardly extending flange exterior of said tank with a lug extending axially therefrom near the radially outer edge thereof, said fixture having a coaxial, cylindrical chamber therein and a bearing portion having a cylindrical opening therethr-ough communicating with said chamber and of reduced internal diameter with respect thereto; means exteriorly engaging the interior end of said fixture for securement thereof to said tank; a handle having a head with a cylindrical sleeve tremity being rotatably supported within the opening in said bearing portion and a bead on said shank portion adjacent to the interior end of said fixture for limiting the outward axial movement of said shank portion with respect to said fixture.

FRED M. KELLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,229,459 Koerner Jan. 21, 1941 2,233,159 Crampton Feb. 25, 1941 2,248,126 Schafer July 8, 1941 2,295,686 Pleasant et a1 Sept. 15, 1942 2,469,000 Pleasant May 3, 1949 2,487,315 Crampton Nov. 8, 1949 

